Bluish turquoise with a mottled purple "picasso" coating, and a gold-luster coating on top of that. (The gold-luster coating doesn't show well in the picture; you can see it most clearly when light is shining on the beads.)

Hole size:

1mm (estimated).

Defects:

The photo revealed that an occasional bead is not perfectly round. In actual use, however, I don't think that will be noticeable. Because of their small size, I am not inspecting them individually, but all premium beads are guaranteed to be pefect (perfect enough that they can be used). If you receive any premium beads that are too imperfect to use, please contact me for a pro-rated refund. (You mustn't feel embarrassed to contact me for refunds.) At 15.2 cents a bead, they should all be perfect.

How photographed:

Under two daylight-balanced lamps.Note: Using lamps leaves two bright spots on each bead -- especially on round beads -- but that can't be helped. Also, the close-up shot may show defects that the human eye can't discern.

Comments:

These are premium beads -- meaning expensive! Despite the fact that some of the beads are not perfectly round, the overall impression is one of quality. I had stopped buying premium beads for a while because I was feeling pressure from cheap Chinese imports, and I wasn't sure that anyone would pay the high price of premium beads any more. However, I've decided to start stocking them again. My supplier of premium beads has a new online shopping cart, so buying beads from them is easier than it was before.